Return To My Roots
by Boingy
Summary: Memories. And visions. Of what she and lost, and what could have been. 'How pathetic.' she thought bitterly SMYGO Reicentric
1. Phone Conversations to Warm the Soul

**Flames of My Heart: Guess what? I've got a new story. Well actually, this story is pretty old, I just never had the chance to post it. I'm not sure if many people will like it, but I'm hoping so. Please read, and feed back would be much appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Sailor Moon. I do, however, own the plot. Thank god for that.

**vVv**

The bitter cold night made Rei shudder under her warm blanket. She was alone and even though she didn't want to admit it, it was killing her inside. The senshi had long since broken up, finding no reason to go on. They had handed in their henshin sticks to Luna, and had continued to live their normal lives.

Minako continued to excel at volleyball, and became the team captain, only to quit after getting a modeling job for a couture company somewhere in France. Ami had taken after her mother and had taken up an internship program in Germany. Makoto had gotten a waitress job in a restaurant and after lots of hard work got promoted to becoming the manager of one of the chain restaurants in the Domino district. Usagi got engaged to Mamoru and was currently living in his flat, waiting to be married in late July.

Hotaru managed to spend most of her reincarnated life as a normal girl, just entering her freshman year of high school in one of the most elite high schools. Haruka continued to race, while occasionally appearing in Michiru's concerts. She and Michiru continued to date, and where even considering adopting another child. Setsuna was currently in France with Minako, since she happened to work for the same company as the goddess of love, though she was a designer.

And what was Rei doing? Rei _had _been taking care of the shrine with her grandfather, until he passed away. Rei, in a moment of grief and stupidity, sold the shrine and moved into a studio in southern Juuban. She now worked in a movie theater, selling popcorn to bratty kids, about to start her final year at TA All Girls School.

If not for the fact that Rei still had her long thick raven colored locks, or her original glowing violet eyes, the other senshi would not have been able to recognize her. Instead of her temper growing with her age, it fizzled out like a dead fuse, only sometimes managed to spark up. Her features had grown softer, loosing all of the sharp contours of her face that matched her sharp personality. She no longer criticized those around her… because there was no one around her to criticize.

She may have realized it too late, but she definitely realized it. She had drifted away from her friends, probably intentionally. She had many chances to keep in contact with them, but had decided against going to the 'family reunions' that they held every year. But somehow she thought they would never forget about her… oh how wrong she was… while they continued to grow and mature, finally accomplishing their dreams, she had drifted away in the shadows… only to be remembered as the icy-hot fire sprite. And even now she had lost that characteristic. So what was left of Hino Rei?

_Memories._ And visions. Of what she had and lost, and what could have been. _How pathetic_. She thought bitterly, biting on her lower lip, a habit she had developed while spending nights like this brooding.

She crumpled the small piece of paper in her hands, as she rose up from the futon on the floor, letting the comforter slid past her shoulders and drop soundlessly to the floor. She was wearing a long men's button down shirt that reached mid-thigh, and black silk pajama pants. She walked bare foot on the cold wooden floor, and opened the sliding rice-paper doors. She exited the room and slid the door back into place, giving the room a once-over.

On the floor the paper continued to lie crumpled, almost forgotten. Only a few words were actually visible in the messy handwriting… probably male.

_'Miss you… visit… playing… Domino elementary… Anzu.'_

If one of the senshi were to find the note, they probably would have no idea what this was about, but then again they never did. But Rei knew very well, and she determined not to go back. But destiny and fate always did hate her determination.

**vVv**

"Oh, did I tell you?" Anzu said, poking at her chicken salad with her fork. "My otou-san invited that girl again."

"Who?" Katsuya Jounouchi took another bite of his cheeseburger. He chewed on it for a moment and then swallowed, giving his friends an overly happy grin.

"That girl that used to go to our elementary school. She was my best friend when we were little girls. Otou-san thought she was the cutest thing. Her grandfather died a year ago, and since then he's always been inviting her over," Anzu said, with a slight bitter tone in her voice. Her father was a very polite man, who sent the letters every vacation, but the other girl never even bothered to reply back. Anzu thought the whole thing was rude.

"Ok…" Jou blinked still not knowing who the hell she was talking about. "There were lots of girls that used to go to our elementary school… what was her name?"

"Hino Rei," Anzu laughed, as Jounouchi's eyes widened and his hand rose to clutch his jaw.

"Oh _her_," Jou was praying that the topic was changed quickly. But not so much luck. A couple of seconds later, Honda had realized who they were talking about, and he broke out into fits of laughter. Yuugi's face turned bright red, and Ryou just blinked, since he was left in the dark.

"Oh sorry Ryou," Yuugi apologized for the rest of them. "You weren't here when we were little. Rei was a girl that used to go to school with us. She and Jou have bad history."

Ryou was actually curious to hear the story. There wasn't many times that Jou's face managed to turn ghostly pale. "What's so special about her?" the comment was a little unusual, since it sounded slightly harsh. Maybe it was his darker half talking for him… or maybe Bakura was just rubbing off on him. _Oh I dread the thought_.

Honda continued to laugh, his face turning different shades of purple but he managed to choke out. "She… HAHAHA… punched him…. PFFTT… in the jaw! Broke it, too!"

"She's the she-devil reincarnated!" Jou tried to justify what had happened.

"You deserved it," Anzu mused, a small smile on her face as she recalled the memory.

**vVvFlashbackvVv**

"Hey Anzu?" a small blond boy of 10 poked his friend's elbow. He was dressed in white t-shirt that had a few stains of dirt on it, and ripped blue jeans. But what more could you expect from the 5th grade bully. He was always rolling around the dirt.

The girl he poked turned around to look at him with her big blue eyes. She had shoulder length brown hair (I know she has short hair in the series but things change) and was wearing a light blue colored dress. "Hai, Jou-chan?" the girl's voice was quiet and sweet, very soothing to the ears actually. Nothing like the other squeaky voices of the girls in his class.

"I wonder why that kid Motou is so short. I mean sure we're all short, but he's like a midget. You think he's an oompa-loompa?" Jou snickered at the thought.

"Jou, we're not in 2nd grade no more. Stop being so immature!" Anzu scolded.

"I'll stop being immature when you grow breasts!" Jounouchi poked at Anzu's flat chest, as her face turned red and she pushed him as hard as she could. He stumbled back about a foot but then remained his composer. And just to spite Anzu he shouted out to his favorite midget—

"HEY, YUUGI! CAN I DIE YOUR HAIR GREEN AND PAINT YOUR SKIN ORANGE? PLEASE? YOU CAN BE OUR SCHOOL MASCOT! THE KING OF THE OOMPA-LOOMP—" Jou's rant was cut off by a fist colliding with his face.

He fell to the ground, his white shirt absorbing more of the dirt on the floor. He jumped up about to punch the offender back, but then stared. Standing in front of him, was a girl with dark violet eyes and raven colored hair. She was actually kinda pretty, with her hair in two pigtails on either side of her head, and she was wearing a white shirt and a red skirt.

"YOU HIT ME!" he jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"And I'll hit you again if you talk to him like that," she countered, her voice cold and bitter.

"What does he have to do with YOU hitting ME?" was the only intelligent counter he could come up with.

"Don't ask stupid questions. Just remember this: You hurt his feelings, I break your face," and she gave him a shove, to prove her point. Jou remained silent and she walked away.

Jou turned to glare at Yuugi, only to find Yuugi was looking at the girl that had walked away his face beet red. "Aw, he likes her," Anzu commented, giving out a girlish giggle.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Who cares?" he said sourly. "All I care about is getting REVENGE!"

Too bad Jounouchi never got the chance. A week later, Rei's mother died and she moved to Juuban to live at her grandfather's shrine.

**vVvEnd FlashbackvVv**

"What did I tell you? SHE'S A MONSTER!" Jou huffed, still trying to prove he had a point. Then he turned to Yuugi, who's face was still slightly red. "Oh sorry about the oompa-loompa thing, Yuge."

Yuugi gave him one of his innocent child-like smiles, and just nodded his head, accepting the apology. "Don't worry about it."

"I still think you deserved it," Anzu countered. "But it was cute how Yuugi had the biggest crush on her after that."

"Why don't you call her?" Honda commented. "I wanna see her punch Jounouchi's face in, again. Maybe you can convince her over the phone."

Anzu sighed, and pulled out her camera phone. She scrolled through her phone book until she found the number, and then pressed _send_, while putting the phone on speaker.

**vVv**

Rei slid out of the shower, her body wrapped in a small white towel, and her hair wrapped in a light blue one. She heard the familiar buzzing of her home phone and wondered who would call at this hour. _Who would call in general?_ She sighed, feeling slightly depressed.

**vVv**

"Hello?" they all listened closely to the angelic voice. It sounded nothing like what they expected. They had all expected her voice to be fierce and strong, like the roar of a lion, demanding respect. But she sounded frail and weak, almost like a scared child.

"Hi, Rei-chan?" Anzu asked in a cheerful voice. She knew it was disrespectful to address the other girl this way, but it just slipped out.

They all continued to wait for her to answer, but they were greeted with an almost eternal silence. They had almost thought she had hung up until the soft voice spoke again.

"Hai, who is this?"

"Oh, it's Anzu remember me from—" Anzu's sentence was cut off by the girl.

"Yeah, I remember." The quiet tone had disappeared, replaced by a slightly louder one, probably because she realized who it was. "What do you wa—What is it?" the voice sounded like it was struggling to be polite.

"Did you get the letter from my otou-san?"

"Hai." Rei paused. "I'm sorry now is not a good time."

"That's what you said last time," Anzu asked, feeling slightly rejected.

"Hai." Again she paused. "Because times have not changed."

"That was last year! How could things have not changed?" Anzu knew it was wrong, but her temper was getting the best of her.

"…Things and times are very different things, Anzu-_chan_." The suffix almost sounded dirty the way she pronounced it.

"Stop being so cryptic! Please for once come!" She was begging and pleading hoping it would work.

**vVv**

Rei stared at the cordless phone in her hand. Why would this stupid girl she hadn't seen in years want to see her so bad? Anzu was going so far as to actually start an argument with her. Fighting with the master at battles of the wits was not exactly the best idea. But then why was Rei so hesitant to say no?

Domino had brought back memories of death, and loss. She had lost three things that day, and only managed to gain one. She lost her mother's life, her father's love, and her humanity. But she had gained her grandfather's love, only to lose it again.

But was it Domino's fault that the events had happened there? How could she fear something that did not have a brain, or a body or a soul? It was just a place… a place she hadn't been to in a long time. Right about now, a vacation didn't sound so bad. Maybe she could spend the first semester in Domino, and if she hated it there she could transfer back.

"I'm not cryptic!" Rei pouted, trying to mock anger. A smile then came to her face as she felt some of her 'old humor' return to her.

"Then what are you?" she heard a gruff voice shouted out. Rei broke into fits of laughter, not even understanding why. There was silence on the line, and Rei knew she had shocked them.

"I'm just a sadistic bitchy pyromaniac," she said composing her laughter, trying to sound as serious as possible. But after she heard the boy on the other line gulp, she started to laugh again. "I'm kidding, baka. Just because I like to punch your face in doesn't mean I'm a nutcase, Jou-_kun_."

**vVv**

**Flames of My Heart: Yeah, Rei-chan is a little bit of a depressed child, but don't worry, she'll return to her 'sadistic bitchy pyromaniac' self, soon! Please read and review, so that I have the fuel to help me continue!**


	2. Gingerbread Cookies

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sailor Moon or Yu-Gi-Oh. I do however own a brain, a computer, and fingers. Not that that wasn't obvious.

**vVv**

She glanced out of her steam covered windows, staring at the world below. Everything was covered in a blank of snow. She could see the vague outlines of people slipping and falling, and even small children having snow ball fights.

"Tis the season to be jolly," she mumbled sarcastically, as she took a sip of her peppermint tea. It was December 23; two days before Christmas. Two days before she promised to meet Anzu at the bus stop in front of Kaiba Land.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go, she just preferred not to. _Oh who am I kidding, I'd rather bite my own foot off than go spend Christmas with those goodie-goodies. The last thing I need is a bunch of people jumping around like a happy sack of potatoes. _She thought bitterly, not really paying attention to the fact that half the things she thought didn't make sense.

Swallowing the last drop of hot tea, she set the cup down on her bare and slightly dusty kitchen table, and stalked out. She looked at the giant suitcase that was lying across her bed, and grabbed a shirt hanging off one of the bedposts. She shoved the shirt into the bag, and then rummaged through an open drawer near her bed. She began to fling random things into the suitcase, until it was practically overflowing.

Sitting on top of it, she zipped the suitcase up, and then threw it into another corner, as she grabbed another bag and repeated the process. An hour later, and two suitcases and a duffle bag, she finally finished. Sinking to the floor, she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

In her hand was a large photo album. On the cover of the book like album it said _Memories to Last a Lifetime._ Flipping a page, she was faced with a magazine picture of all the former sailor senshi and all their glory. The title of the magazine photo and the story followed was _The Beautiful Soldiers of Juuban_.

The picture was a clear photo, taken by a professional camera, of a scene from one of their many fights with the youmas. Sailor Moon stood in the middle, glowing tiara in hand, ready to throw it at the purple, scale-skinned monster. Next to her was Sailor Venus, the ends of her chain wrapped around the waist, while the rest of the chain was whipping out in front of her.

Standing in the sidelines was Sailor Mercury, her famous mini-computer and blue data visor over her eyes. Her fingers were over the keyboard of the computer, while she bit on her lower lip nervously. A little in front of her, was Sailor Jupiter, who was trying to protect the busy girl, oak leaves and thunder radiated around her.

Sailor Mars stood on one knee, to support her weight, a flaming bow and arrow in one hand, while Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus stood next to each other, their globe shaped attacks merging to create a powerful attack. Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn were the only ones that were actually going head to head with the monster, using their weapons (Silence Glaive and Garnet Orb) to poke and prod at it.

Underneath the photo there was a small article that said:

_Not much is known about the Sailor Senshi, except for the fact that they are the protectors of the universe. Not only do they kick alien butt, but they do it while wearing mini- school girl uniforms. _

_The most graceful of the nine girls, would most definitely have to be Sailor Moon, who appeared shortly after the fifth volume of the Sailor V video games were released. Most people believed her to be a staged hoax, but she proved herself worthy of the title of 'super hero' after she saved the world from a crazed witch out to kill all humans. _

_No one knows the identities of any of the girls, nor is anyone crazy enough to find out, but it's well known that there are only a few people that do not trust them with their lives. Hino Akira, a former governor, who happens to be one of those people, stated, "While these girls might be a great help, they are not to be trusted. Who knows when they could turn on us?"_

_Though the former governor may have a point, others seem to disagree. One anonymous person stated, "He doesn't know what he's talking about. If he wants to go against the senshi, be my guest. That's one less lying bastard in the world—_

****The rest of the article was cut off, and as Rei closed the album she let out a huge grin. Though no one really knew it, she had been the 'anonymous person.' She had said it to be spiteful after her 18th birthday, when he had cut off all ties to her and official disowned her, claiming he no longer owed her anything. That was the reason she had to live in the small dump, because until her father was dead, or she got a high paying job, there would be no way for her to pay the maintenance for the shrine.

It wasn't as though she was terribly sad to sell the shrine, though. After her grandfather's death, she felt all ill chill run down her back every time she set foot in the beautiful shrine. She had even seen a therapist about it, but he just said she had 'post-death trauma.'

_I could've figured that out by myself, without having to pay 1,000 yen an hour._

She threw the album into her duffle bag and gave one last look at the house. Throwing the bag over her shoulder, and grabbing the other three suitcases, she unlocked the front door. She gave one last look at the almost empty apartment, and stepped out of the door. Locking it, she began walking down the elevator.

_Well, it looks like I'll be making an early visit._ She though as the elevator door closed, and she pressed the 'lobby' button. She tapped her left foot impatiently against the elevator floor as she stared at the floor number above the door. It currently read '25' meaning she had that many floors to go before she reached the main floor.

**vVv**

"Hey, can I get a burger to go?" Jounouchi Katsuya asked, as the front door of one of his best friend's house opened. It was a small two family house, one that his friend shared with an old lady who had a fetish for cats. It was a red brick building, with a chimney at the top, and stained glass front door.

"Bite me," his brunette friend as she stuck out her tongue at him. She was new to the city, and since he was her next door neighbor he had gotten the pleasure of meeting her.

She was dressed in an oversized school sweatshirt, and pajama pants, but she still looked cute none the less. Her name was Kino Makoto, a busty 18 year-old girl with chestnut colored hair and forest green colored eyes.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot," she moved aside as he stepped inside the house, and ran up the stairs to her part of the house. She lived on the second floor. Upstairs he was greeted with the delightful smell of gingerbread cookies, and the earth colored décor of her hallway, that matched the rest of her house. He entered the living room, and ran to sit with Anzu and Yuugi, who came a few minutes before him.

"What's up guys?" Jou greeted them, as he slid into an armchair that was across the two. Anzu and Yuugi were currently sitting in a loveseat.

The three sat in silence for a little while, turning their attentions to some cheesy romance movie that was playing on TV. "Boring," Jou mumbled as he tried to think up a conversation starter. "So, what are you guys getting me for Christmas?"

"A giant burger," Makoto's voice replied, as she entered the kitchen, with a plate of icing decorated cookies. They were all Christmas themed, in colors of white, red and green.

"YAY! FOOD!" Jou shouted, as he grabbed the plate, and shoved two or three cookies in his mouth. Anzu tried to grab one from the plate, but Jou growled at her, and she backed away, scared he would bite her fingers off.

"You guys remind me of my friends. Except they were worse…" Makoto began to trail off, as Jou let out a giant groan. This was the part where Makoto would dose off and go into her little dream world, remembering some meaningless moment about her and her friends from Juuban. If you asked him, this girl was just a little too homesick.

"You should go visit them," Anzu offered, as Makoto snapped out of her daze, and gave Anzu a million dollar smile.

"I should, shouldn't I?" she repeated, liking the idea.

"Do you really want her to start ranting about the importance of friendship?" Jou said, shoving another cookie in his mouth, as Anzu sent him a glare. She picked up a cookie from the tray, and flung it at Jou. He tried to dodge, but it didn't help much as the cookie connected with his hard head, and crushed the pieces. Most of the bits of cookie ended up in his hair.

"Baka," Anzu mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can't go anyway," Makoto continued to ramble about visiting her senshi friends, as if nothing happened. "I need to look after the story. Maybe next vacation." She picked up the now empty plate, and walked back into the kitchen.

**vVv**

Rei growled in annoyance, as she threw her suitcases onto the floor, and unzipped one. She kicked her running shoes off and hissed in pain as she looked at her now red and frozen ankles. She had fallen 17 times since she got off the bus stop at Kaiba Land, and yes she counted.

But that wasn't even the worst part about the god-forsaken city. No the worst part had to be the fact that she only had enough money to stay in a dingy broken down motel. She studied her surrounds: a fold-out bed, a small black-and-white T.V., a chair with a ripped seat and a crooked coffee table. Not to mention the fact that the shower in the bathroom had a strange fungus growing on it.

She unzipped one of the suitcases, and flung off her black trench coat. Underneath she wore a green holiday sweater, and for bottoms she wore an old pair of ripped jeans. Sliding out of the jeans, she grabbed a pair of black three-fourth sweatpants, and slid them on. To cover her open ankles she pulled out a pair of fuzzy black boots that reached mid-calves. She pulled the boots on and let a sigh of relief as the numb feeling in her legs began to disappear.

She viciously pulled off the Christmas themed sweater, and put on a red zip-up shirt. Over the shirt, she threw on a _DKNY Active_ coat (colors: black and pink) and grabbed her _Hello Kitty _wallet and the motel room key. She ran out of the disgusting room, locked the door, and began to jog down the street.

She continued to run down the street, not paying attention to her surroundings. Not only was jogging healthy, but it kept her mind off important matters, such as applying to her new high school. She tried to apply online, but the school website told her she'd have to wait 48 hours before they would even look at her school file. And she definitely didn't have 48 hours to spare.

Soon the busy shop filled streets began to change from clear, to ice-covered, and slightly muddy. She looked down to find her suede boots covered in brown snow. After she got over the initial shock of her now ruined boots, she looked up and crashed head long into another body.

Swearing loudly she looked up, prepared to curse the person who dared to cross her path and her eyes widened in shock. Though she didn't recognize the person, she couldn't simply ignore the golden and slightly tainted aura that outlined his body. And she was allowed to gape at him, since it had _nothing_ (note the sarcasm) to do with the fact that she was clutching the front of his coat, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. She tried to find something intelligent or bitchy to say at the guy, but her mind was a total blank.

**vVv**

"Hey where's Ryou?" Jou asked, mouth full of another batch of Makoto's cookies.

"He said he'd stop by. He's probably running late because of the snow," Anzu said logically.

**vVv**

**Flames of My Heart: If you people don't know who she bumped into… well then, you'll just have to wait till the next chapter. For those of you that do know, you deserve one of those pretty cookies Makoto baked. And if you review right now I'll throw in a lock of your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh bishie's hair… and you can sell it on E-Bay… or just sniff it.**

**Review replies to anonymous reviewers: (since I replied to all signed reviewers… and if I didn't, I'm so sorry!)**

_**Rena H.M.: **Thanks a lot. I tried to put myself into Rei's place if someone as bubbly as Anzu called me. (I pretended it was a telemarketer… Oh I hate them!)_

_**Mina:** Yeah, I love Rei-centric stories. They rock! Anyway, thanks for your review! Hope you liked chapter two!_


End file.
